A Sad Day for Food Network Lovers Everywhere

It is a sad day indeed for lovers of Emeril Live.

By ERIN CARLSON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 55 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Food Network is kicking Emeril Lagasse down a notch.

The celebrity chef's "Emeril Live," which has been on the air for 10 years, will cease production Dec. 11, Food Network publicist Carrie Welch told The Associated Press.

"However, Emeril is under contract with Food Network," Welch said Tuesday. "We love him, we support him and look forward to a long partnership with him."

Welch wouldn't comment on Lagasse's contract.

Asked why the show was canceled, she told the AP: "The only reason would be that it hit a ton of television milestones and, you know, all good things come to an end."

The Food Network will continue producing Lagasse's "The Essence of Emeril," and he will take part in "specials and other development opportunities in the future," Welch said.

The network will also air reruns of "Emeril Live."

"I am deeply appreciative to all the unbelievable staff — many who have been with the show since the beginning — and all the loyal viewers, and the many talented guests who have appeared on the show through the years," Lagasse, 48, said in a statement provided by Welch.

"I look forward to continuing my association with the Food Network with `The Essence of Emeril,' and I have lots of new ideas cooking," he said.

I am not sure how we will get through this sad time in our lives, but I'm sure we will.

Yes, I am a nerd.

How cool is this?

Harrison Ford

Every Harrison Ford movie (of recent years, not including earlier stuff like Star Wars, or Indiana Jones) is the same:
1. Opening scene(s) in which it is made clear that Harrison Ford loves his family, his wife, his family dog.
2. Mean man, who knows everything about Harrison Ford's family (like the name of his dog, or his son's allergies), kidnaps the family and tells Harrison Ford about it, but doesn't tell him what he wants.
3. Finally, mean man tells Harrison Ford what he wants.
4. Harrison Ford says no. Mean man makes it clear that he isn't playing games.
5. Harrison Ford says okay, goes through the motions.
6. Meanwhile, Harrison Ford is creating an elaborate plan to turn the tables on the mean man and his cronies.
7. Harrison Ford's elaborate plan goes wrong. Family put into more danger.
8. Harrison Ford comes up with new plan. Saves family. Saves family dog. Kills mean man. Roll the credits.

So why are they all so good?

Egg Salad

So I was watching Iron Chef: America, and Mario Batali was competing, and he was cooking this pasta dish, and I'm probably going to do a terrible job describing it, but it was really cheesy (the secret ingredient was Parmesiano Reggiano), and he was serving if family style. So he had this giant platter, and piled this huge pile of finely grated cheese on it (like grated super small, like the kind that comes out of the green can), and then created a large indentation in the pile, sort of creating a cheese volcano. Then he took some kind of alcohol (i feel like it was ouzo) and he filled the crater with it, and lit it on fire. The alcohol all burned off, and what happened was the surface of the crater was smoothed over because it melted, thereby creating a bowl made out of cheese. By smoothing it, the pasta would avoid getting caught on the rough cheese and torn up. So he served a pasta in a cheese-based sauce, in a bowl made out of cheese.

Egg salad?

Japanese Game Shows

Japanese game shows are possibly the most ridiculous, ever.



Other than that, I'm mentally and physically and emotionally exhausted. Why is it that once you finally seem to be settled into some sort of rhythm in life, like ten thousand different things all happen at once to disrupt that delicately balanced homeostasis that you've worked so hard to achieve? At least I've got my research. I wonder if that's why people in academia and/or research tend to sequester themselves in the lab for hours on end...as a way to not have to deal with the outside world. When you're doing experimental research, you control, or attempt to control, everything except for one variable. And even then, you categorize the variable of interest, thereby controlling the way that you interpret it. You leave as little as possible to chance. I wonder if that says something about scientists and researchers. For people who would like to live a life in that sort of a model, it seems like a very predictable, and very boring, way to live.

Emeril's Modified Skillet Cornbread

So I was watching the Food Network's All-Star Thanksgiving Special from 2004 the other day, and was inspired to try creating Emeril's Skillet Cornbread. It's got jalapenos and bacon in it, amongst other things, and seeing it reminded me of the jalapeno cheddar scones that I had while on my family's Alaska trip this summer on a Wilderness 4x4 off-road adventure on Kruzof Island near Sitka, AK (check out the company that runs the program here). Emeril's original recipe can be found here.


I modified it a bit because neither I nor my roommate currently owns a cast-iron skillet. Instead, I found 2 12-count muffin tins that I used...the recipe provided by the website allowed me to fill 20 of the muffin holes. Since muffins bake in a shorter amount of time than a whole skillet of batter, they ended up taking only about 15 minutes instead of 25. Also, after the first 10 minutes or so I pulled the muffins out, spread some grated cheddar cheese along the top of each muffin, and returned it to the oven for the remaining time (basically, until I decided that the cheese was sufficiently melted, but not runny).

Result was overall positive, though the jalapeno taste didn't come through very well, I would have liked to taste a bit more of the heat from the peppers. Next time I may not be so meticulous in removing all the veins and seeds, to preserve more of the heat.

Fwd: another test

does the email-to-blog feature work?

This is a test

This is a test. Using different fonts. and styles and colors

and alignments.

I should probably include a link as well.
And a picture.

Is it required that every blog have a "hello world" type first entry? Like, is it stated somewhere in the unwritten rules of blogging? Actually, its probably written down somewhere. Someone probably blogged about it. And someone else read it and blogged about it too. I resisted my semi-serious foray into the blogosphere as long as possible (much like I resisted facebook, for a while).

But, as J.D. Klein has said to me, "you have things to say."
...We'll see.